Friday, June 11, 2010

In Which We Have Another Insanely Busy Day But I Manage To Blog About It This Time

Today was, if possible, even more busy than yesterday.

Connor had a "Sports Day" at school today; they're having a bunch of really fun theme days right now because we're getting really close to the end of the year. He was supposed to wear a sports-themed outfit. The little guy has currently outgrown all of his Texas A&M gear (Jeremy and I met at A&M) so I put him in a shirt with a gorilla lifting a dumbbell on it instead.

If Gorilla Powerlifting isn't a sport, it totally should be.

Anyway, Connor went down for a brief "quiet time" after school, which he spent happily experimenting with the upper ranges of his vocal volume, and then we were off to Seattle for a trip to Pike Place Market. Because it was a sunny, gorgeous day today and a Friday to boot the market was packed, but we still ended up having a really good time. We wandered for a couple of hours around munching on piroshkies and checking out all of the awesome vendors. Then it was time to hop in the car again. We dropped our friends off at an upscale shopping center near the hospital, and then Jeremy, Connor and I headed to a neurology appointment.

Our neurologist apologized multiple times for the big delay in treatment we had a few weeks ago-- a first for me. I've never had a doctor apologize for anything, despite some major mistakes over the past few years, so that was pretty unexpected and awesome. Then we got right down to business. He went ahead and upped Connor's Keppra again, so hopefully we can stay ahead of the curve as far as the seizures go. We also talked about possibly scheduling an MRI-- Connor hasn't had one in a while and because he's at risk for a number of things we've been told in the past to get one yearly. We're kind of debating that right now though, because other than the seizures Connor seems to be doing really well, so if it's not necessary to put him under we'd rather not. He's about due for another ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) though, which he'll have to be sedated for, so we might just try to do both together since he'll have to be under for that anyway.

We're supposed to set up another appointment for three months out. Overall I came out of the hospital feeling pretty good about the care we're getting. Connor wasn't quite as happy as I was, as he'd already had about enough excitement for the day and then he had to have a blood draw to check his medication levels. He was less than thrilled, to say the least.

Since by this point it was rush hour and I usually get Connor a book as a reward anyway when he has a doctor's appointment that involves bloodshed, we met up with our friends at the shopping area near the hospital and ate a leisurely dinner before spending some time browsing the gigantic Barnes and Noble in the area. Finally we headed for home, barely staving off Connor's threatened meltdown by playing 80's music with a heavy bass line and lots of percussion. I wheeled him straight into his bedroom from the car (any time I slowed down or looked like I was going to stop his lower lip started quivering) and he was out within ten minutes after I put him down. I can't say I blame him-- it was a busy day.

3 comments:

Talk about a busy day! What a great doctor- for apologizing and for getting all the proverbial ducks in a row. Getting the ABR and MRI done at the same time is a brilliant idea. Perhaps Connor could get more Texas A&M shirts as a reward for braving the procedures!

Sounds like an *awesome* day! I'm really impressed with your neurologist for apologizing.

Emmett has his annual MRI coming up. Oh, I have unsolicited advice for you for if Connor has an MRI! (You LOVE unsolicited advice!) So here it is: if your hospital parking garage gives you those parking passes with the magnetic strip, DO NOT take it into to room with the MRI machine. The machine will erase the magnetic strip and when you and your semi-conscious child try to leave the hospital, you'll find that your ticket is invalid. It's true! Ask me how I know.

Seriously, though: I hope this new medication dose does nothing for Connor but keep those seizures at bay.

About The Author

I'm Connor's Mom. That pretty much explains everything. I mean, raising the epicenter of cuteness in the universe is tough, but it has its moments, all right.
I should probably mention that Connor has a submicroscopic, subtelomeric unbalanced translocation 46xy der t(1)(1;15)(q42;q26.2)-- an extremely rare chromosomal disorder. He keeps me on my toes!